Published in 1947, the US Geological Survey’s “Mt Vernon” presents a meticulous mid-century portrait of southern Westchester County and adjoining Long Island Sound communities at the authoritative 1:24,000 scale. Centered on the urban and suburban geography around Mount Vernon, the map encompasses Bronxville, Larchmont, Pelham, and Pelham Manor, capturing a landscape where commuter towns, parkland, waterways, and transportation corridors are tightly interwoven. Its original title is spare and direct, in the classic USGS manner, yet the sheet itself is rich with information: streets and railways trace the region’s built framework, while contours reveal the subtle hills and valleys beneath the expanding metropolitan fabric. As a 1947 document, it preserves the area at a revealing postwar moment, before later waves of development further reshaped the suburbs north of New York City.

The US Geological Survey brought to this map the disciplined visual language that made its quadrangles indispensable to planners, engineers, hikers, historians, and local governments. Contour lines are the map’s quiet architecture, describing elevation and relief with precision across a terrain often experienced today through roads and neighborhoods rather than topography. The vibrant USGS palette distinguishes urban settlement, wooded or open areas, water bodies, and transportation routes with exceptional clarity, allowing the viewer to read both human and natural systems at once. Unlike purely road-focused maps, this topographical sheet invites a deeper understanding of place: the lie of the land, the drainage patterns, the slopes underlying residential districts, and the relationship between established communities and the remaining green spaces that punctuate the region.

Bronxville appears as one of the map’s most evocative suburban communities, its compact street network set amid the rolling terrain characteristic of lower Westchester. By 1947, Bronxville had long been associated with commuter rail access, leafy residential planning, and proximity to New York City, and the map’s depiction of railways and roads helps explain its enduring identity as a refined village linked to the metropolis yet distinct from it. Nearby Pelham and Pelham Manor are similarly rendered as settled but spatially nuanced places, with neighborhood streets, parks, and water features arranged across a landscape of modest elevation changes. The topography gives these communities texture, revealing how development adapted to ridges, lowlands, and older routes rather than erasing them entirely.

To the east, Larchmont and the coastal margins introduce a different character, shaped by Long Island Sound, inlets, ponds, and low-lying waterside terrain. The map records the relationship between suburban settlement and maritime geography, a defining feature of this stretch of Westchester. Fort Slocum, historically situated on Davids Island off New Rochelle, adds a military note to the landscape, recalling the region’s strategic and institutional roles as well as its residential appeal. Parks and green spaces appear as essential counterpoints to the dense tracery of streets, suggesting how recreation, conservation, and civic planning were already embedded in the suburban fabric. The various lakes, ponds, and waterways also make the map especially rewarding, offering a hydrological reading of an area often known primarily through its towns.

As a historical artifact, “Mt Vernon” is valuable for the comparisons it enables: between 1947 and the present, between prewar suburban patterns and postwar expansion, and between natural landforms and the infrastructure laid across them. Its roads, railways, neighborhoods, parks, and contour lines together form a layered record of a region in transition, poised between established suburban elegance and the accelerating growth of the mid-twentieth century. For collectors, the map offers more than geographical utility; it is a finely organized snapshot of place, rendered with the authority and restraint of the USGS tradition. Its appeal lies in the way it transforms familiar names—Bronxville, Larchmont, Pelham, Pelham Manor—into a richly legible terrain of history, movement, elevation, and memory.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Bronxville
• Larchmont
• Pelham
• Pelham Manor
• Fort Slocum
• Various lakes
• Numerous streets and roads
• Parks and green spaces
• Water bodies, including rivers and ponds
• Notable infrastructure such as railways

Historical context & cartographic details

• Historical 1:24,000 topographical map titled “Mt Vernon”
• Produced by the US Geological Survey (USGS)
• Dated 1947, with USGS records listing 1947 as the publication year
• No separate imprint year is specified
• Uses contour lines to show elevation and relief
• Depicts both urban development and natural landscape features in a clear, vibrant USGS style
• Shows hills, valleys, populated areas, and the blend of natural and developed environments
• Serves as a mid-20th century record useful for comparing urban and environmental changes since 1947

Looking for a particular place? Review the detailed images to confirm that the town, landmark or feature you have in mind appears on the map. If you are unsure, ask our workshop to check before you order.

Detailed maps are especially rewarding at larger sizes, where names, boundaries and decorative features have more room to be appreciated. Use the close-up preview and size guide to choose the right scale for your wall.

This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 50in (125cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.

The model in the listing images is holding the 18x24in (45x60cm) version of this map.

Where personalisation is available, you can add a short title or dedication, mark one meaningful place, or request one considered visual detail. See personalised map examples.

Every piece is printed to museum-grade archival standards using fade-resistant pigment inks on acid-free matte paper. Choose an unframed map print, framed map or canvas using the finish options above. Framed maps use crystal-clear optical acrylic and arrive ready to hang.

With its rich detail and strong sense of place, this map makes a considered gift for a new home, anniversary, retirement or anyone with a personal connection to the area shown. Still deciding? Explore our collection of rare old and vintage maps to discover another place, period or style.

This map is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The map is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present a map without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas maps and explore the differences between my different finishes.

For something truly unique, this map is also available in "Unique 3D", our trademarked process that dramatically transforms the map so that it has a wonderful sense of depth. We combine the original map with detailed topography and elevation data, so that mountains and the terrain really "pop". For more info and examples of 3D maps, check my Unique 3D page.